As an IT professional, you spend much of your day searching for solutions to Windows error messages. That’s why we’ve compiled a cheat sheet covering five of the most commonly searched error messages along with strategies for fixing them.

1. The connection was denied

The Error: When trying to log in to remote desktop, Windows 2008 and 2003 users may get this error message: “The connection was denied because the user account is not authorized for remote login.”

The Solution: In order to set up Windows 2008 and 2003 Server so that users can log into the remote desktop, you need to add your remote desktop users group to the same dialogue that you would on a Windows workstation. To do this, open your Control Panel and look for System. You’ll find the “Remote” tab under “System Properties.” From there, click on “select users” and add the group or individual users so that they can connect via remote desktop.

Still not working? Check if the Terminal Server licensing is properly configured. I…

A theory stemming from an experiment by social psychologist Stanley Milgram in the 1960s claims every living person is connected to any other through only six friends. According to a recent study, Facebook reduces the six degrees of separation to only four, meaning the world’s largest social network makes the world even smaller (figuratively).

The study, a joint effort by Facebook and Università degli Studi di Milano, shows that the number of “hops” separating any two persons on Facebook is in fact smaller than six. According to the study, “99.6% of all pairs of users are connected by paths with 5 degrees (6 hops), 92% are connected by only four degrees (5 hops),” with the average “distance” between users getting smaller over time.

In popular culture, the best known implementation of the “six degrees of separation” theory is the Kevin Bacon game, which requires you to connect a Hollywood actor to Kevin Bacon, with actors being connected if they’ve been in a movie together. The highe…